I'm a massive fan of Shinya and I try to emulate his style of grappling in my own competitions, but by no means should he be considered a top 5 lightweight. In fact, I would say that it's debatable whether he's still in the top 10.

its just that i see alot of ranking systems that rank him in the top 5 and i didnt think he was so i thought i'd see what people thought. another question is can u tell me the best and most accurate ranking site. i'm pretty new at the internet and stuff. the sherdog site looks pretty sweet though

Until he fights other top 10 guys then I don't think he should be ranked at all, I think the guys he fights in Dream are walkovers Rich Clementi, Rob McCullough & Lyle Beerbohm were his last 3 opponents and he beat them all by submission, But guys like Edgar, Guida, Miller, Cerrone fight other top 10/elite LW fighters and deserve a top ten spot, Aoki needs to step up his level in competition maybe make the move over to the UFC, but until he does he won't have the credibility to be in any top ten ranking IMO.

I think Aoki is a top ten, who can absolutely beat certain fighters in the top 5.

He's like Hettes but more refined, i think you need to be Melendez/Edgar/Maynard to stop him from grappling with you. People aren't prepared for his Judo takedowns and transitions IMO. No one is training to neutralize his style of takedowns because no one else can really emulate his style or even mimic it in training. You could have the best wrestling sprawl in the world, and it won't matter against Aoki.

Miller, Guida, Ben-Hen, Alvarez, Chandler, Cerrone - I would pick Aoki without hesitation against all of them.

I think Aoki could look top 10 against multiple guys in the top 10 and also not look top 20 against multiple guys in the top 20. He's a real matchup play.

After last night there's not even a top 50 LW in Japan (In any organization) for him to face, that he hasn't already faced. He had to face a friend and occasional training partner, Kitaoka, just to face someone who's a top 50 LW, and even that can be debated.

No way to move up the ladder unless he moves to a US organization, and really only a Zuffa one, or they'd have to import a challenge for him in DREAM but who's a top LW not under contract somewhere? Literally no one left to challenge for his title at 155 in Japan. Very curious to see who they can pull out of their hat for his next match in an empty pool.

Hellboy and Kawajiri are at 145 now eyeing Takaya's title, plus they've both combined to fight Aoki 4 times already.

About the best DREAM could import that `might` not be under exclusive contract would be Narantungalag, Masvidal if his contract is over or if he isn't retained, maybe Alessio...... then it gets into the Clementi's and McCullough's he's been facing. None of those will move him up any rankings. Even pulling a Joe Daddy or Pellegrino out of what may be retirements wouldn't do anything, no reward with the risk.

Zuffa or bust if you want to be thought of as a top 5 fighter the way the talent pool is spread in MMA right now.

Last edited 1/1/12 5:22AM server time by KproEdit note/reason: n/a

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I think Aoki could look top 10 against multiple guys in the top 10 and also not look top 20 against multiple guys in the top 20. He's a real matchup play.

After last night there's not even a top 50 LW in Japan (In any organization) for him to face, that he hasn't already faced. He had to face a friend and occasional training partner, Kitaoka, just to face someone who's a top 50 LW, and even that can be debated.

No way to move up the ladder unless he moves to a US organization, and really only a Zuffa one, or they'd have to import a challenge for him in DREAM but who's a top LW not under contract somewhere? Literally no one left to challenge for his title at 155 in Japan. Very curious to see who they can pull out of their hat for his next match in an empty pool.

Hellboy and Kawajiri are at 145 now eyeing Takaya's title, plus they've both combined to fight Aoki 4 times already.

About the best DREAM could import that `might` not be under exclusive contract would be Narantungalag, Masvidal if his contract is over or if he isn't retained, maybe Alessio...... then it gets into the Clementi's and McCullough's he's been facing. None of those will move him up any rankings. Even pulling a Joe Daddy or Pellegrino out of what may be retirements wouldn't do anything, no reward with the risk.

Zuffa or bust if you want to be thought of as a top 5 fighter the way the talent pool is spread in MMA right now.

I agree, if I were in Aokis corner I'd call for Stevenson, he's not in his prime and it'd be easy money for both fighters, there Gunna have to call in fighters with 1 fight contracts and hope Aoki can beat them all, If I were Dana I'd send one of your boys out there just to beat him up tbh... But Dana doesn't seem to co-promote Other than the one off when he sent chuck over

If I was Dana I'd send Lauzon over, no huge risk if he loses, good boxing, stylistically a good match for Lauzon and it'll be more exposure, but that's just me

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